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Rules

The Act in general applies to young people under 18 years of age. It defines
children as being aged under 16 and young persons refers to those aged 16 and
17. The Act does not apply to children or young people who are employed by a
close relative.

Children

Under the Act, employers cannot employ children under 16 in regular
full-time jobs. They may employ children aged 14 and 15 years on light work as
follows:

Children aged 14 or over may do light work during the school holidays
where the hours do not exceed 7 in any day or 35 in any week.

Children over 15 but under 16 may do light work up to 8 hours a week
during school term time.

Children under 16 may work up to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week if
they are on an approved work experience or educational programme where the
work is not harmful to their health, safety or development. Approved work
experience or educational programmes for people under 16 are work
experience, training or educational programmes approved by the Minister for
Education and Skills, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation or
by SOLAS

Children under 16 must have at least 21 days off work during the summer
holidays.

Children can be employed in film, cultural, advertising work or sport
under licences issued by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

Maximum weekly working hours for children under 16

Age

14 years of age

15 years of age

School term-time

Nil

8 hours

Holidays

35 hours

35 hours

Work experience

40 hours

40 hours

Time off and rest breaks for children under 16

Half hour rest break

after 4 hours work

Daily rest break

14 consecutive hours off

Weekly rest break

2 days off, to be consecutive as far as is
practicable

Limits on night and early morning work
Employers may not require children to work before 8am in the morning or after
8pm at night.

Young people

The Act sets the following limits to the working hours of young people aged
16 and 17. If a young person aged under 18 works for more than one employer,
the combined daily or weekly hours of work cannot exceed the maximum number of
hours allowed.

Working hours, time off and rest breaks for young people aged 16 and
17

Maximum working day

8 hours

Maximum working week

40 hours

Half hour rest break

after 4 1/2 hours work

Daily rest break

12 consecutive hours off

Weekly rest break

2 days off, to be consecutive as far as is
practicable

Limits on night work and early morning workIn general, young people aged 16 and 17 are not allowed to work before
6am in the morning or after 10pm at night. Any exceptions to this rule must be
provided by regulation.

The Protection of Young
Persons Act 1996 (Employment in Licensed Premises) Regulations 2001 (SI
350/2001) permits young people employed on general duties in a
licensed premises to be required to work up to 11 pm on a day that does not
immediately precede a school day during a school term where the young person is
attending school. The Regulations state that the definition of general duties
“does not include supplying intoxicating liquor from behind the bar counter
in licensed premises or supplying it for consumption off those premises”.

Duties of employer

Employers must see a copy of the young person's birth certificate or other
evidence of his or her age before employing that person. If the young person is
aged under 16, the employer must get the written permission of the person's
parent or guardian.

Employers must keep records for every employee aged under 18 including
details of the employee’s starting and finishing times for work.

If a child or a young person thinks they have been penalised for refusing to
co-operate with an employer in breaching the Act (for example, by refusing to
work prohibited hours) then a parent or guardian may make a complaint to a Rights
Commissioner within 6 months of such penalisation – see 'Complaints
below. This period may be extended by a further 6 months if the Rights
Commissioner is satisfied that exceptional circumstances prevented the
presentation of the complaint within the first 6 months.

Complaints:

Complaints should be made using the new online complaint form (available by
selecting ‘Make a complaint in relation to employment rights’ on workplacerelations.ie).

For further information on the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act
1996 contact Workplace Relations Customer Services - see 'Where to apply'
below.

Contact Us

If you have a question relating to this topic you can contact the Citizens Information Phone Service on 0761 07 4000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm) or you can visit your local Citizens Information Centre.